Granholm tells Congress ‘adjustments have been made’ to distribution transformer proposal

The U.S. Department of Energy’s plan to improve the efficiency of distribution transformers could exacerbate shortages of the critical devices, threatening electrification efforts, lawmakers said Wednesday.

By Robert Walton • March 21, 2024

California lawmakers backpedal on income-based utility charges as IOUs, others propose alternatives

State legislators ordered regulators in 2022 to implement an income-graduated fixed charge to protect low-income customers and shift the funding for various policy goals. A new bill would repeal that.

By Herman K. Trabish • March 19, 2024

Explore the Trendline➔

Electricity Supply and Demand

After nearly two decades of flat demand, U.S. electricity consumption reached an all-time high in 2024 and is expected to continue rising. This trendline brings together the best of Utility Dive’s coverage of emerging trends in supply and demand and the decisions being made today that will impact the power system for years to come. 

By Utility Dive staff

New England could see resource adequacy troubles even with billions in investments: ISO-NE

Batteries make up 46% of ISO New England’s interconnection queue, but the grid operator said that as peak demand grows, they may “struggle to recharge during the winter months.”

By Robert Walton • March 19, 2024

PG&E aims to raise up to $1B for transmission through leases to Citizens Energy

The proposed funding for transmission projects comes a month after Pacific Gas & Electric increased its five-year capital spending plan by 20%, to $62 billion.

By Ethan Howland • March 15, 2024

Bills aim to spur grid-enhancing technologies with shared-savings incentives from FERC

“The Advancing GETs Act will motivate grid operators and developers to bring new projects online that expand transmission capacity,” Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., said Wednesday.

By Ethan Howland • March 14, 2024

Permitting reform budget request should push Congress to negotiate a bipartisan deal

Our domestic energy supply cannot be secured until the United States’ burdensome approval process is overhauled so that we can begin to get major energy infrastructure projects underway.  

By Liam deClive-Lowe and Paolo Mastrangelo • March 14, 2024

Utilities, others lobby senators to block DOE’s distribution transformer efficiency rule

The U.S. Department of Energy plans to finalize new efficiency rules for distribution transformers in April, but a broad coalition of utilities is supporting legislation to block the effort.

By Robert Walton • Updated March 19, 2024

US electricity prices outpace annual inflation

Analysts cited transmission costs and federal policies for the 3.6% increase the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Tuesday.

By Robert Walton • March 13, 2024

Setting the record straight on Western market options: It’s not just about footprint

Instead of coercing the entire West into a single market, we should turn our attention to facilitating trade among multiple markets as a better use of our time and energy.

By Libby Calnon, Clay Fitchis, Mark Hayden, Bear Prairie, Chris Robinson and Jim Webb • March 11, 2024

California regulators approve new program to expedite power line undergrounding

The program allows utilities with at least 250,000 customers to submit a 10-year undergrounding plan to the California Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety, which must approve or reject it within nine months.

By Robert Walton • March 11, 2024

California PUC urges FERC to reject SCE’s early cost recovery request for $1.6B in projects

Southern California Edison contends that being allowed to recover its costs while two transmission projects are being built, instead of waiting until they’re in service, will ease financial strains and customer rate shock.

By Ethan Howland • March 11, 2024

Federal lawmakers urge FERC to adopt ‘shared savings’ incentive for grid-enhancing technologies

The push at the federal level comes as grid-enhancing technology bills and projects to relieve grid congestion advance in Minnesota.

By Ethan Howland • March 8, 2024

MISO proposes up to $23B transmission expansion with 765-kV ‘highway’

The Midcontinent Independent System Operator expects to refine its initial Tranche 2 proposal before it heads to a board vote, possibly by September.

By Ethan Howland • March 7, 2024

Texas regulators explore how to attract advanced nuclear projects, structure SMR incentives

States could use 24/7 carbon-free energy credits to attract projects, potentially by stacking them with federal incentives, according to Nuclear Energy Institute officials.

By Robert Walton • March 5, 2024

Colorado PUC proposes rules for Xcel, Tri-State, Black Hills to join RTO, day-ahead markets

The proposal requires any organized wholesale market to allow Colorado utilities to maintain priority rights to their grid interconnections for resources needed to meet their loads.

By Ethan Howland • March 5, 2024

2024 PJM Outlook: Tough choices loom on capacity market, plant retirements, transmission planning

Ensuring that enough new generation comes online to replace retiring power plants is a key issue that threads through PJM’s expected focus this year, stakeholders and observers said.

By Ethan Howland • Feb. 29, 2024

Pump the brakes on big transmission

Our current policy enthusiasm for transmission has moved from a responsible cocktail before dinner to a bacchanalia of Roman proportions.

By Vincent Duane • Feb. 28, 2024

Congressional action on energy permitting remains stuck, but states, developers are finding solutions

States are resolving local objections to projects through community engagement while transmission developers are making innovative use of existing rights-of-way to bypass permitting logjams.

By Herman K. Trabish • Feb. 27, 2024

ERCOT, CAISO offer best grid interconnection processes; PJM, ISO-NE the worst, report finds

The scorecard, which ranked PJM Interconnection last with a D-minus, can be used a baseline to measure interconnection reform efforts across the U.S., Advanced Energy United said.

By Ethan Howland • Updated Feb. 26, 2024

Avangrid, other utilities urge FERC to reject ‘false’ claims of insufficient transmission cost reviews

But New England ratepayer advocates support a challenge to the utilities’ alleged failure to adequately share information about their “asset condition” projects.

By Ethan Howland • Feb. 23, 2024

PJM, 3 other RTOs propose steps to improve gas-electric sector coordination, boost reliability

Market enhancements, operational improvements and regulatory reforms are needed to improve gas-electric coordination, according to grid operators serving much of the U.S.

By Robert Walton • Feb. 22, 2024

5 takeaways from the investor-owned utility sector’s day on Wall Street

Utilities will likely issue equity this year to fund the energy transition’s record capital spending, Edison Electric Institute officials said.

By Robert Walton • Feb. 21, 2024

Colorado cities urge FERC to reject cost allocation for Xcel’s $2B Power Pathway transmission project

The Municipal Energy Agency of Nebraska, which serves four states, along with three of its municipal utility members in Colorado, contend they won’t benefit from the project and shouldn’t pay for any of it.

By Ethan Howland • Updated Feb. 23, 2024

NextGen Highways launches effort to build transmission lines along public right of way in Minnesota

A first-of-its-kind coalition could speed up transmission infrastructure siting in Minnesota and provide a blueprint for similar state initiatives elsewhere.

By Brian Martucci • Feb. 20, 2024

Good things come to those who wait: Massachusetts set to be national example with AMI 2.0

Massachusetts can show us all that with patience and smart policy, it’s possible to deliver on an AMI 2.0 smart meter rollout that not just ticks all the boxes but shows us how to build a better box.

By Colin Gibbs, VP Energy Services, Sense • Feb. 20, 2024